8 comments:

I'll never forget when I was interviewing, I applied for several "Dream Jobs". My second day at my new librarian job, I received a call asking me to interview for one of those positions, and got another call (from dream job #2) FOUR MONTHS LATER!

One to two months between steps? You are being way too generous. I got announcements of positions filled a full year after it had been filled. I am thinking 3 to 5 months between steps unless it is a "desperation" hire where someone leaves suddenly, likely for greener pastures, and you need someone pronto. Then the 1-2 months might apply. Otherwise, you are being kind. Best, and keep on blogging.

So true. Our director has refined this to an art form, partly because she has more important things to do than hiring, and partly because she likes to spend the unused salaries on "special projects." Then when we creak into action and advertise a position, we assume that job applicants are in some sort of suspended animation, surfacing only to respond to our interview invitations, given months later.

What I want to know is whether "the unlibrarian" went for either of those interviews!

Also, frustrating as it is to be waiting to be called (I've been there, too), sometimes it's because the preferred hire #1 and #2 (etc.) turn down the job when offered. That could mean a lot of things, but one thing it certainly means is that YOU aren't the number one choice.

My library-worldview has just been shaken to the core. Today I received a rejection letter six days after my interview. Six days?!? Most academic libraries can't mail a letter in less than ten days and I'm rejected in under six days?

I don't think I would have survived long at such a fast-moving institution.

Eh. Why bother hiring anyone at all? Just keep shoveling more work onto the staff dumb enough to hang around after everyone who knows better has jumped ship. When those people finally get burned out, don't replace them either and let the institution fall in on itself, thus saving huge amounts of money.